Method and apparatus for operating camera function in portable terminal

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus for operating a camera function in a portable terminal are provided. State information representing at least one of a direction and a rotation state of the portable terminal is obtained, and at least one of a sequence of reading an image from a camera sensor and an appropriate user interface is determined depending on the state information. Thus, the camera function is performed depending on the determined sequence or user interface.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a Continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/111,227 filed on May 19, 2011, which claims the benefitunder 35 U.S.C. §119 of a Korean patent application filed in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office on Jun. 7, 2010 and assigned Serial No.10-2010-0053223, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporatedby reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a method and an apparatus foroperating a camera function in a portable terminal based on a sensor.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, as users' interest in a digital camera rapidly increases,portable terminals mounting a plurality of cameras therein are beingprovided. These cameras are used for capturing images at differentangles or for a different purpose. For example, as illustrated in FIG.1, cameras 101, 103, and 105 are typically provided in a folder innerportion, a front side, and a rear side, respectively. The camera 101mounted in the folder inner portion is used for video communication, thecamera 103 mounted in the front side is used for capturing images of theuser, and the camera 105 mounted in the rear side is used for capturinga different object.

Most of cameras mounted in the conventional portable terminal are fixedat a specific position, thus have some drawbacks. In operation, theorientation of captured image may be changed due to the user's motion ofrotating the portable terminal. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 2Ato 2D, when a user rotates a portable terminal mounting a camera unittherein by 90 degrees, 180 degrees, and 270 degrees and captures animage, the direction of an image displayed on a lens or a Liquid CrystalDisplay (LCD) screen and the direction of an image actually stored inthe portable terminal are different from each other. That is, even whenthe direction of the portable terminal changes, the user cannotrecognize the changed direction through the screen or lens, but thecaptured result image is rotated according to the direction of theportable terminal and stored or transferred to a different apparatus.

Meanwhile, since most of portable terminals are configured forright-handed users, left-handed users have an inconvenience in using theportable terminal. For example, a portable terminal has a shutter buttonfor capturing at a position that is easy to use with a right hand, andaccordingly, a left-handed user has an inconvenience of having to pressthe shutter button located at the position that is difficult to presswith a left hand, or press the shutter button with an unfamiliar righthand.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present invention is to address at least theabove-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at leastthe advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the presentinvention is to provide a method and an apparatus for operating a camerafunction based on a sensor in a portable terminal.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a method and anapparatus for operating a multi-camera according to state information ofa terminal based on a sensor in the portable terminal.

Still another aspect of the present invention is to provide a method andan apparatus for a user interface according to state information of aterminal based on a sensor in the portable terminal.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide a method andan apparatus for displaying and storing a captured image according tostate information of a terminal based on a sensor in the portableterminal.

Further yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide amethod and an apparatus for providing various capturing techniques usinga multi-camera in a portable terminal.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method foroperating a camera function in a portable terminal includes executing acamera application, obtaining state information representing at leastone of a direction and a rotation state of the portable terminal,determining at least one of a sequence of reading an image from a camerasensor and a user interface depending on the state information, andperforming the camera function depending on the determined sequence oruser interface.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatusfor operating a camera function in a portable terminal includes a stateinformation recognizer for, when a camera application is executed,obtaining state information representing at least one of a direction anda rotation state of the portable terminal, and a controller fordetermining at least one of a sequence of reading an image from a camerasensor and a user interface depending on the state information, andcontrolling the camera function depending on the determined sequence oruser interface.

Other aspects, advantages and salient features of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of certainexemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a portable terminal mounting amulti-camera therein;

FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 2C and FIG. 2D are views illustrating resultimages captured according to a rotation state of a terminal in theconventional portable terminal;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a portable terminal according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for performing a camerafunction depending on a rotation state in a portable terminal accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for displaying an imagedepending on a rotation state in a portable terminal according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for operating amulti-camera and capturing an image in a portable terminal according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, FIG. 7C and FIG. 7D are views illustrating resultimages captured according to a rotation state of a terminal in theportable terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are views illustrating a user interface depending ona rotation state in a portable terminal according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9A, FIG. 9B, FIG. 9C and FIG. 9D are views illustrating a sequenceof reading an image depending on a rotation state in a portable terminalaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B are views illustrating an example of operating amulti-camera and capturing an image in a portable terminal according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be understood torefer to like parts, components and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplaryembodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. Also, descriptions of well-known functions andconstructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

Hereinafter, a case where the camera is fixedly mounted on apredetermined position of a portable terminal is exemplarily described.Accordingly, in the following description, the state information, i.e.,the direction or rotation state of the portable terminal denotes thedirection or rotation state of the camera mounted in the portableterminal.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a portable terminal according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the portable terminal includes a controller 300, acamera unit 310, a storage unit 320, a state information recognizer 330,a display unit 340, an input unit 350, and a communication unit 360.

The controller 300 controls an overall operation of the portableterminal. More particularly, the controller 300 determines a capturecamera depending on the state information of the portable terminal,determines and changes a user interface for controlling a camerafunction, determines an output sequence of an image signal input from acamera sensor to control and process a function for displaying andstoring an image in the normal direction. Here, the state information ofthe portable terminal denotes the direction or rotation state of theportable terminal.

In operation, when the portable terminal has two or more cameras, thecontroller 300 may determine a camera to be used for capturing among thetwo or more cameras depending on the rotation state of the portableterminal. The controller 300 may determine the camera to be useddepending on the type of an application executed by a user. In addition,the controller 300 controls a function for changing a user interface(for example, a shutter key/icon, a zoom control key/icon, and a capturekey/icon) depending on the rotation state of the portable terminal.Moreover, the controller 300 determines an output sequence of an imagesignal input from a camera sensor depending on the rotation state of theportable terminal and displays an input image on the screen in thenormal direction as illustrated in FIGS. 7A to 7D, and simultaneously,controls and processes a function for storing the input image in thenormal direction. Here, the output sequence of the input image signaldenotes a sequence in which the controller 300 reads an image from thecamera sensor.

Furthermore, the controller 300 controls a function for displaying animage such that the captured image stored in the storage unit 320 isdisplayed in the normal direction when the user views the image. Inaddition, the controller 300 controls a function for capturing an imagein a Picture In Picture (PIP) mode using a plurality of cameras.

The controller 300 controls and processes various functions forperforming operations illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6.

The camera unit 310 includes at least one camera, drives a camera forcapturing under control of the controller 300, and provides an imagesignal input via a sensor of the driven camera to the controller 300.The camera unit 310 provides an image signal input via the sensor to thecontroller 300 according to an image signal output sequence determinedby the controller 300. That is, when the output sequence determined bythe controller 300 is a sequence corresponding to the normal direction,the camera unit 310 provides pixel information input from the camerasensor in the sequence of (0, 0), (0, 1), (0, 2), . . . , (0, n−1), (1,0), (1, 1), . . . , (m−1, n−2), (m−1, n−1) to the controller 300 asillustrated in FIG. 9A. When the output sequence determined by thecontroller 300 is a sequence corresponding to a 180-degree direction,the camera unit 310 provides pixel information input from the camerasensor in the sequence of (m−1, n−1), (m−1, n−2), (m−1, n−3), . . . ,(m−2, n−1), (m−2, n−2), . . . , (0, 2), (0, 1), (0, 0) to the controller300 as illustrated in FIG. 9C.

The storage unit 320 stores various programs and data for an overalloperation of the portable terminal, and stores a captured image undercontrol of the controller 300. Here, the size of a memory map forstoring the captured image in the storage unit 320 may correspond to amaximum number of the horizontal pixels of the camera. For example, whena maximum number of horizontal pixels of the camera is m, the memory mapof the camera has a size of m×m for preventing an angle of view frombeing lost depending on the rotation state of the portable terminal. Forexample, when the size of the memory map storing the captured image isfixed according to the horizontal direction of the portable terminal,when the portable terminal performs a vertical capturing operation,since a horizontal-to-vertical ratio becomes different, thisconfiguration of the memory map size prevents an angle of view frombeing lost. That is, when a camera memory map is fixed to 320×240according to the horizontal direction of the portable terminal, when theportable terminal performs a vertical capturing operation, thehorizontal-to-vertical ratio of a captured image changes to 240×320, andconsequently, the captured image is reduced to 240×160 according to thehorizontal-to-vertical ratio of fixed memory map. The configuration ofthe memory map size prevents this lost in the angle of view.

The state information recognizer 330 detects state informationrepresenting the direction or rotation state of the portable terminal,and provides the state information to the controller 300. Here, thestate information recognizer 330 may detect the state information of theportable terminal using one of an accelerometer sensor, a gyroscopesensor, a horizontal angle measuring sensor, a touch sensor, and a userinterface. That is, the state information recognizer 330 may detect thedirection or rotation state of the portable terminal by measuring anangular velocity when the portable terminal rotates from a referenceposition using the accelerometer sensor. In addition, the stateinformation recognizer 330 may detect the rotation state by measuring ahorizontal angle of the portable terminal using the horizontal sensor.In addition, the state information recognizer 330 may detect thedirection or rotation state of the portable terminal by recognizingapplied pressure or static electricity using the touch sensor mounted onthe surface of the portable terminal when a user of the portableterminal grips the portable terminal and analyzing the pattern of thesurface contacted by the user's hand. In addition, the state informationrecognizer 330 may obtain state information of the portable terminalthrough an icon provided as a user interface or direction informationselected or input by the user. Here, the state information recognizer330 may use the above-described two or more methods in order toaccurately detect the state information of the portable terminal.

The display unit 340 displays various state information, numbers,letters, and images occurring during an operation of the portableterminal. More particularly, the display unit 340 displays an imagesignal input from the camera unit 310 on a screen in real-time anddisplays a captured image stored in advance on the screen in the normaldirection under control of the controller 300.

In addition, the display unit 340 may display information regarding achange in a user interface according to the state information of theportable terminal under control of the controller 300. That is, when theportable terminal performs an image capturing operation using a key, thedisplay unit 340 may display to show that the function of each key haschanged. When the portable terminal uses a touch screen, the displayunit 340 may change and display capturing functions displayed on thescreen depending on the rotation state of the portable terminal. Forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 8A, while the terminal does not rotate,the display unit 340 may display that a key A performs a shutterfunction and a key B performs a zoom function on a screen. When theterminal rotates by 180 degrees, the display unit 340 may display thatthe key B performs the shutter function and the key A performs the zoomfunction on the screen. In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 8B, whilethe portable terminal does not rotate, the display unit 340 may displaya shutter icon on the right upper end of the screen. When the portableterminal rotates by 180 degrees, the display unit 340 may display theshutter icon on the left upper end of the screen. Further, the displayunit 340 may display an image in a Picture In Picture (PIP) mode undercontrol of the controller 300 as illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B.

The input unit 350 has at least one function key or touch sensor toprovide data input by a user to the controller 300. That is, the inputunit 350 provides data corresponding to a key pressed by a user to thecontroller 300 or provides the coordinate of a position touched by theuser to the controller 300.

The communication unit 360 transmits/receives a signal to/from anexternal apparatus via a wired line or wirelessly under control of thecontroller 300. For example, the communication unit 360 may transmit acaptured image to a different portable terminal connected wirelessly andmay transmit a captured image to a computer system connected via a wiredline under control of the controller 300.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the process for performing a camerafunction depending on a rotation state in a portable terminal accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, in step 401, the portable terminal determineswhether an application that requires a camera operation is executed, andif so, the portable terminal obtains the state information of theportable terminal, i.e., information representing the direction orrotation state through the state information recognizer 330 in step 403.Here, the rotation state of the portable terminal may be divided into a0-degree rotation state, a 90-degree rotation state, a 180-degreerotation state, and a 270-degree rotation state. Accordingly, eachrotation state includes ±45 degree. That is, when the portable terminalhas a rotation state between 45 degrees and 135 degrees, the rotationstate of the portable terminal may be determined as the 90 degrees.According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,description is made on the assumption that the case illustrated in FIG.7A is a normal state of the portable terminal, i.e., a 0-degree rotatestate.

When the state information of the portable terminal is obtained, theportable terminal proceeds to step 405 to determine a camera to be usedfor executing the application. For example, when the portable terminalincludes a horizontal mode camera and a vertical mode camera, when theportable terminal rotates by 0 degree or 180 degrees, the portableterminal determines the horizontal mode camera. In contrast, when theportable terminal rotates by 90 degrees or 270 degrees, the portableterminal may determine the vertical mode camera. The horizontal modecamera has more horizontal pixels than vertical pixels, and thereforehorizontal mode camera is more suitable for the images in whichhorizontal length is greater than vertical length. The vertical modecamera has more vertical pixels than horizontal pixels, and thereforevertical mode camera is more suitable for the images in which verticallength is greater than horizontal length. In addition, the portableterminal may determine the camera with consideration of whether thefolder or slide of the portable terminal is opened and the executedapplication, and may simply determine the camera selected by the userthrough a key button or an icon provided to the portable terminal instep 405.

When the camera is determined, the portable terminal determines a userinterface corresponding to state information of the portable terminaland an output sequence of an input image in step 407. That is, asillustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the portable terminal determines theuser interface used for capturing depending on the rotation state of theportable terminal. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 8A, while theportable terminal rotates by 0 degree, the portable terminal determinesthe user interface such that the key A performs the shutter function andthe key B performs the zoom function. In contrast, when the portableterminal rotates by 180 degrees, the portable terminal determines theuser interface such that the key B performs the shutter function and thekey A performs the zoom function. In addition, as illustrated in FIG.8B, while the portable terminal rotates by 0 degree, the portableterminal determines the user interface such that a shutter icon existson the right upper end of the screen. In contrast, when the portableterminal rotates by 180 degrees, the portable terminal may determine theuser interface such that the shutter icon exists on the left upper endof the screen. Further, the portable terminal determines a sequence inwhich an input image from the camera sensor is output on the screen. Forexample, when the portable terminal rotates by 0 degree, the portableterminal determines a normal direction sequence so that pixelinformation input from the camera sensor is output on the screen in thesequence of (0, 0), (0, 1), (0, 2), . . . , (0, n−1), (1, 0), (1, 1), .. . , (m−1, n−2), (m−1, n−1) as illustrated in FIG. 9A. When theportable terminal rotates by 180, the portable terminal determines a180-degree direction sequence so that pixel information input from thecamera sensor is output on the screen in the sequence of (m−1, n−1),(m−1, n−2), (m−1, n−3), . . . , (m−2, n−1), (m−2, n−2), . . . , (0, 2),(0, 1), (0, 0) as illustrated in FIG. 9C.

The portable terminal drives the determined camera in step 409, anddisplays an input image on the screen according to the determined outputsequence and displays the determined user interface on the screen instep 411.

The portable terminal determines whether the state information of theportable terminal changes in step 413. That is, the portable terminaldetermines whether the portable terminal rotates according to the user'smotion while the portable terminal drives the camera and performs ascreen display operation. When the state information of the portableterminal changes, the portable terminal proceeds to step 415 todetermine a user interface and an input image output sequence dependingon the changed state information and returns to step 411.

In contrast, when the state information of the portable terminal doesnot change, the portable terminal proceeds to step 417 to determinewhether an image capture event occurs. For example, the portableterminal determines whether a shutter key or a shutter icon is input, orwhether a predetermined automatic capture condition is met. When theimage capture event does not occur, the portable terminal returns tostep 413 to re-perform subsequent steps.

When the image capture event occurs, the portable terminal proceeds tostep 419 to store a relevant image according to the determined inputimage output sequence. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 9A to 9D,the portable terminal stores a relevant image in the storage unit 320according to the image output sequence determined depending on therotation state of the portable terminal Therefore, as illustrated inFIGS. 7A to 7D, the portable terminal may store a captured image suchthat the image is always stored in the normal direction even when theportable terminal captures the image in a rotated state.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the process for displaying an imagedepending on a rotation state in a portable terminal according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the portable terminal determines whether an eventfor displaying a captured image occurs in step 501. For example, theportable terminal determines whether a view menu for viewing a capturedimage stored in the portable terminal is selected.

When the event for displaying the captured image occurs, the portableterminal obtains the state information of the portable terminal, i.e.,information representing the direction or rotation state in step 503.

The portable terminal determines an output sequence of a relevantcaptured image depending on the state information in step 505. Forexample, when the state information represents 0-degree rotation state,the portable terminal determines output on the screen in the sequence of(0, 0), (0, 1), (0, 2), . . . , (0, n−1), (1, 0), (1, 1), . . . , (m−1,n−2), (m−1, n−1) as illustrated in FIG. 9A. When the state informationrepresents 180-degree rotation state, the portable terminal determinesoutput on the screen in the sequence of (m−1, n−1), (m−1, n−2), (m−1,n−3), . . . , (m−2, n−1), (m−2, n−2), . . . , (0, 2), (0, 1), (0, 0) asillustrated in FIG. 9C, and the portable terminal reads the relevantcaptured image from the storage unit 320 and displays the same on thescreen according to the determined output sequence in step 507.Accordingly, the user may view a captured image displayed in the normaldirection even when the portable terminal rotates.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the process for operating amulti-camera and capturing an image in a portable terminal according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the portable terminal determines whether anapplication that requires operations of two cameras is executed in step601. For example, the portable terminal determines whether a PIP modecapture menu is selected.

When the application that requires the operations of the two cameras isexecuted, the portable terminal determines two cameras to be used forthe application in step 603. Here, the portable terminal may determinethe two cameras with consideration of the state information of theportable terminal, whether a folder or a slide is opened, and theexecuted application. Alternatively, the portable terminal may simplydetermine a camera(s) selected by a user through a key button or an iconprovided to the portable terminal

Thereafter, the portable terminal determines the purposes of the twocameras in step 605. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10B, theportable terminal may determine one of the two cameras for the purposeof a background image capturing, and may determine the other camera forthe purpose of a sub image capturing. Such purposes of the cameras maybe automatically determined depending on a camera position mounted onthe portable terminal, or may be manually selected by a user. That is,the portable terminal may determine a camera mounted in the rear sidefor the purpose of a background image capturing, and may determine acamera mounted in the front side for the purpose of a sub imagecapturing.

The portable terminal determines a first camera image display region anda second camera image display region in step 607. Here, the two cameraimage display regions may be automatically determined according to apredetermined scheme, and may be manually determined by a user. Theportable terminal drives the first camera to display an image input fromthe first camera on the first camera image display region, and drivesthe second camera to display an image input from the second camera onthe second camera image display region in step 609. For example, theportable terminal determines a camera mounted in the front side of theportable terminal as a camera for a sub capturing, determines a cameramounted in the rear side of the portable terminal as a camera for abackground capturing, displays an image input from the camera for thebackground capturing as a background image of the screen, and displaysan image input from the camera for the sub capturing on a predeterminedregion of the background image as illustrated in FIG. 10A. Asillustrated in FIG. 10B, the display icon is changed to an edit mode(shown by the highlighted box) so that the size of the display screencan be altered by dragging the box to desired position. Further, asillustrated in FIG. 10B, the display portion for sub capturing may beconfigured and altered. Here, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the portableterminal may configure a user interface depending on the stateinformation of the portable terminal, and may determine an outputsequence of an image signal input from each camera sensor depending onthe state information of the portable terminal.

The portable terminal determines whether an image capture event occursin step 611. For example, the portable terminal determines whether ashutter key or a shutter icon is input, or whether an automatic capturecondition set in advance is met. When the image capture event does notoccur, the portable terminal determines whether an event for changing animage display region occurs according to user manipulation in step 615.When the display region change event does not occur, the portableterminal returns to step 611. When the display region change eventoccurs, the portable terminal proceeds to step 617 to change the firstcamera image display region and the second camera image display regionand display an image input from each camera according to the usermanipulation, and then returns to step 611.

When the image capture event occurs, the portable terminal proceeds tostep 613 to store a relevant image according to the determined inputimage output sequence, and ends the algorithm according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

In the above, a method for maintaining an image in the normal directionby controlling a sequence of reading an image from a camera sensordepending on the rotation state of the portable terminal has beendescribed using a case where a camera is fixedly mounted in the portableterminal as an example. However, when the camera mounted in the portableterminal is not fixed, a predetermined pendulum is mounted such that thecenter of mass is directed to the lower portion of a camera module, andthe camera module is made rotatable, so that the camera always maintainsa horizontal state and thus maintains an image in the normal directioneven when the sequence of reading an image from the camera sensor is notcontrolled.

Note that the above-described methods according to the present inventioncan be realized in hardware or as software or computer code that can bestored in a recording medium such as a CD ROM, an RAM, a floppy disk, ahard disk, or a magneto-optical disk or downloaded over a network, sothat the methods described herein can be executed by such software usinga general purpose computer, or a special processor or in programmable ordedicated hardware, such as an ASIC or FPGA. As would be understood inthe art, the computer, the processor or the programmable hardwareinclude memory components, e.g., RAM, ROM, Flash, etc. that may store orreceive software or computer code that when accessed and executed by thecomputer, processor or hardware implement the processing methodsdescribed herein.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide effects ofdetecting the rotation state of a camera and automatically changing acamera image in the normal direction to provide the same to a user andstore the same, thus providing a more convenient interface to the userdepending on the rotation state of the camera. This is achieved byoperating a camera function depending on the state information of asensor-based portable terminal in the portable terminal. In addition,exemplary embodiments may be usefully utilized for even the case ofusing a web cam function that uses a camera of the portable terminal,and may be usefully utilized for the case of synthesizing a screen usinga plurality of cameras. Further, even when a cable, a memory card, andUSB devices are mounted in the portable terminal and so an installationdirection of the camera is limited due to space constraints, thedirection of the portable terminal may be changed and used, so thatusability improves.

Although the invention has been shown and described with reference tocertain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims and their equivalents. Therefore, thescope of the present invention should not be limited to theabove-described embodiments but should be determined by not only theappended claims but also the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A portable device, comprising: a touch screendisplay; at least first and second image sensors; and a controllerconfigured to perform operations comprising: obtaining a first image anda second image in real-time via the first and second image sensors,respectively, wherein the first image and the second image from thefirst and second image sensors are displayed in real-time; displaying,via the touch screen display, the second image over at least a portionof the first image; thereafter, changing a displayed location of allregions of the second image and thereby displacing the second image inresponse to a user input, so as to display a real time composite image;thereafter, detecting a capture event in respect of the displayed realtime composite image; and responsive to the detected capture event,storing the composite image.
 2. The portable device of claim 1, wherein:the input is a touch related input manipulated by a user.
 3. Theportable device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:presenting a menu for a user to determine a shape corresponding to thesecond image, the menu including one or more selectable shape images. 4.The portable device of claim 3, wherein presenting the menu comprises:acquiring an input corresponding to a shape image of the one or moreselectable shape images; and presenting the second image in the shapeimage of the one or more selectable shape images.
 5. The portable deviceof claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: obtaining stateinformation representing at least one of a direction or a rotation stateof the touch screen display via at least one of an accelerometer sensor,a gyroscope sensor, a horizontal angle measuring sensor, a touch sensor,or a user interface.
 6. The portable device of claim 5, wherein theoperations further comprise: acquiring another input via at least oneuser interface key; determining a function related to the other inputbased on state information of the portable device.
 7. The portabledevice of claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise: determininga region of the touch screen display via which to present a shuttericon, based on state information of the portable device.
 8. The portabledevice of claim 1, wherein the capture event comprises a shutter keyinput, a shutter icon input or the occurrence of an automatic capturecondition input.
 9. An apparatus comprising: a touch screen display; atleast first and second image sensors; and a controller configured toperform operations comprising: obtaining a first image and a secondimage in real-time via the first and second image sensors, respectively,wherein the first image and the second image from the first and secondimage sensors are displayed in real-time; presenting the first image viaa first region of the touch screen display; editing, responsive to userinput, a size of a particular object delineated within the first imagerelative to other portions of the first image; presenting the secondimage via a second region of the touch screen display, the second regionbeing within a boundary of the first region; thereafter, displacing allregions of the second image responsive to user manipulation so that thesecond image appears integrated within the object of the first image, soas to display a real time composite image; thereafter, detecting acapture event in respect of the displayed real time composite image; andresponsive to the detected capture event, storing the composite image.10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein presenting the second imagecomprises: determining a shape based on at least one of an input from auser or a specified scheme.
 11. The apparatus of claim 9, whereinpresenting the second image comprises: presenting the second image via athird region of the touch screen display based on another input tochange a region corresponding to the second image.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 9, wherein the operations further comprise: obtaining stateinformation representing at least one of a direction or a rotation stateof the touch screen display.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein theoperations further comprise: determining a region of the touch screendisplay via which to present a shutter icon, based on the stateinformation.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: acquiring another input via at least one userinterface key; determining a function related to the other input basedon the state information.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein thefunction comprises at least one of a capturing function or a zoomingfunction.
 16. A method comprising: obtaining a first image and a secondimage in real-time via at least one of a plurality of image sensors inresponse to a first user input, wherein the first image and the secondimage from the plurality of image sensors are displayed in real-time;displaying, on a touch screen display, the second image over at least aportion of the first image; thereafter, changing a displayed location ofall regions of the second image and thereby displacing the second imagein response to a second user input, so as to display a real timecomposite image; thereafter, detecting a capture event in respect of thedisplayed real time composite image; and responsive to the detectedcapture event, storing the composite image.
 17. The method of claim 16,wherein displaying the second image comprises: presenting a menu for auser to determine a shape corresponding to the second image; acquiring athird input to determine the shape corresponding to the second image;and presenting the second image in the shape determined by the user. 18.The method of claim 16, further comprising: obtaining state informationrepresenting at least one of a direction or a rotation state of thetouch screen display; presenting a shutter icon on a region of the touchscreen display based on a first state information; and presenting theshutter icon on another region of the touch screen display based on asecond state information.
 19. The method of claim 16, furthercomprising: obtaining state information representing at least one of adirection or a rotation state of the touch screen display; anddetermining a function related to a user interface key based on thestate information.
 20. An apparatus comprising: a touch screen display;at least first and second image sensors; and a controller configured toperform operations comprising: obtaining a first image and a secondimage in real-time via the first and second image sensors, respectively,wherein the first image and the second image from the first and secondimage sensors are displayed in real-time; editing, responsive to userinput, a size of a particular object delineated within the first imagerelative to other portions of the first image; displaying, via the touchscreen display, the second image over a portion of the first image, andthereafter displacing all regions of the second image so that the secondimage appears integrated within the object; displaying, via the touchscreen display, the first image in a first region over a portion of thesecond image in response to a user input, so as to display a real timecomposite image; thereafter, detecting a capture event in respect of thedisplayed real time composite image; and responsive to the detectedcapture event, storing the composite image.
 21. The apparatus of claim20, wherein: the input is a touch related input manipulated by a user.22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the operations further comprise:presenting a menu for a user to determine a shape corresponding to thesecond image.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein presenting the menucomprises: acquiring another input to determine the shape correspondingto the second image; and presenting the second image in the shapedetermined by the user.
 24. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein theoperations further comprise: obtaining state information representing atleast one of a direction or a rotation state of the touch screen displayvia at least one of an accelerometer sensor, a gyroscope sensor, ahorizontal angle measuring sensor, a touch sensor, or a user interface.25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the operations further comprise:determining a region of the touch screen display via which to present ashutter icon, based on the state information.
 26. A method in a portabledevice having at least first and second image sensors and a touch screendisplay, comprising: obtaining a first image and a second image inreal-time via the first and second image sensors, respectively, whereinthe first image and the second image from the first and second imagesensors are displayed in real-time; displaying the first image on thetouch screen display and editing, responsive to user input, a size of aparticular object delineated within the first image relative to otherportions of the first image; displaying the second image on the touchscreen display over a portion of the first image, and thereafter,displacing all regions of the second image responsive to a usermanipulation so that the second image appears integrated within theobject of the first image, so as to display a real time composite image;thereafter, detecting a capture event in respect of the displayed realtime composite image; and responsive to the detected capture event,storing the composite image.
 27. A portable terminal comprising: a touchscreen display; a first camera mounted in a front side of the portableterminal for sub capturing; a second camera mounted in a rear side ofthe portable terminal for background capturing; and a controllerconfigured to perform operations comprising: obtaining a backgroundimage and a sub image real-time via the first and second cameras,respectively, wherein the background image and the sub image from thefirst and second cameras are displayed in real-time; displaying thebackground image as a background on the touch screen display; displayingthe sub image on a predetermined region of the background image;thereafter, changing a displayed location of all regions of the subimage and thereby displacing the sub image in response to an inputassociated with the sub image, so as to display a real time compositeimage; thereafter, detecting a capture event in respect of the displayedreal time composite image; and responsive to the detected capture event,storing the composite image.
 28. A portable device, comprising: a touchscreen display; a first image sensor and a second image sensor; and acontroller configured to: obtain a first image in real-time via thefirst image sensor, and a second image in real-time via the second imagesensor, wherein the first image and the second image from the first andsecond image sensors are displayed in real-time; present, via the touchscreen display, a real time third image generated using at least oneportion of the first image overlapping at least one portion of thesecond image; identify an input to capture the real time third image;and store the third image in a memory operatively coupled with thecontroller in response to the input, wherein the third image is acquiredby changing a displayed location of all regions of the second image inresponse to a user input.
 29. The portable device of claim 28, whereinthe controller is further configured to control the touch screen displayto display the second image over a portion of the first image, andthereafter, display the first image over a portion of the second imagein response to a user input.
 30. A portable device, comprising: a touchscreen display; a first imagae sensor and a second image sensor; and acontroller configured to: obtain a first image in real-time via thefirst image sensor, and a second image in real-time via the second imagesensor, wherein the first image and the second image from the first andsecond image sensors are displayed in real-time; present, via the touchscreen display, a real time third image generated using at least oneportion of the first image overlapping at least one portion of thesecond image; identify an input to capture the real time third image;and store the third image in a memory operatively coupled with thecontroller in response to the input, wherein the third image is acquiredby displacing all regions of the second image so that the second imageappears integrated within a particular object delineated within thefirst image relative to other portions of the first image.